North Korea's cowed people were marched to the polls on Sunday for a
pre-decided "election" to parliament - with only one candidate for each seat

Singing and dancing in what state media hailed as “billows of emotion and happiness”, North Koreans today “voted” in elections for their country’s parliament.

The hermit dictatorship claimed a turn out of more than 90 per cent for the polls, despite only one approved candidate standing for each of the 687 districts.

Kim Jong-un, the country’s Supreme Leader, stood as a candidate for the Mount Pektu constituency, a mountain that has divine status because his father Kim Jong-il is said to have been born on its slopes.

“Through this election we will fully display the might of the single-hearted unity of our army and people who are firmly united behind our respected marshal,” said Hyon Byong Chol, the chairman of a preparatory committee for one of the electoral subdistricts.

However, at every polling station, any voter who did not wish to cast a ballot in favour of the ruling Workers’ Party had to enter a separate booth. The absence of the secret ballot principle suggested that few would take the risk of not voting for the incumbents.

The Rodong Sinmun – mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party – said the election would promote North Korea as a “dignified, prosperous and strong socialist powerhouse”.

A number of poems were also produced to celebrate voting, under titles including “The Billows of Emotion and Happiness” and “We Go To Polling Station.”

Television footage showed hundreds of soldiers queuing up at a polling station in constituency number 111 and dancing in unison on the street to festive music.

Voters line up to cast their ballots in Pyongyang (AP)

Portraits of Jong-il and Kim Il-sung – Mr Kim’s late grandfather and the nation’s founding president – were hung on the wall behind the ballot box. Soldiers deeply bowed to the portraits after casting their votes.

Elections are normally held every five years to the Supreme People’s Assembly, which only meets once or twice a year, mostly for a daylong session, to rubber-stamp budgets or other decisions made by the ruling Workers’ Party. The vote also serves as a census for the authorities.

The real interest for outside observers is the final list of candidates. Many top Korean officials are members of the parliament, and the election is an opportunity to see if any established names are absent.

“It’s a chance to see who might be tagged for key roles under Kim Jong-un,” said professor Yang Moo-jin, of the University for North Korean Studies.

“The list of names can also point to what, if any, generational changes have been made – and what policy directions Kim Jong-un might be favouring.”

The election is the first since Mr Kim took power in the reclusive state, following the death of his father in December 2011.

Last month a UN report documented horrific human rights abuses in North Korea, likening the regime to that of Nazi Germany.